NJCAA World Series: Howard wins, within one victory of title

Published 7:00 pm, Thursday, May 28, 2009

GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. - Finally, the No. 1 Howard College Hawks played a game without all the drama that has followed them throughout the Division I Junior College World Series.

After narrowly defeating Western Nevada College 4-3 in extra innings just four days ago, the Hawks utilized the 8-run mercy rule after seven innings with an 11-3 victory.

The Hawks were powered by the pitching performance of Zach Neal and the prowess of Joe Leftridge at the plate.

"Obviously, we swung the bats a little better and Joe was a catalyst for us," acknowledged Howard College coach Britt Smith. "He hadn't taken a lot of great swings here and really struggled at times, but he came up with big hits tonight and ignited this team.

"Zach was just Zach tonight. I can't say enough about his performance. He just pitched his last game as a Hawk and it was a great one. We're going to miss him a lot."

Neal gave up a two-run homer in the bottom of the first to Travis Feiner, who is hitting better than .600 in the tournament. However, after that, Neal spread out nine hits over seven innings, striking out 10 batters and walking none. His only other mistake came in the seventh, when Lance Ray hit a solo shot.

"The Zach Neal everyone saw tonight is the same pitcher he's been since he was 16 years old," said Howard pitching coach Jack Giese. "He's an incredible competitor. He wanted the ball for this game. He started texting me at 2 a.m. asking me if he was going to get the ball. I let him just sweat it out and wonder if he was going to get it. I just wanted him to get some good rest and not worry too much about the game."

The Hawks gave Neal plenty of help at the plate.

The first seven Hawks reached base by at least a fielder's choice to start the game, pushing three runs across. Joe Leftridge, Bryan Johns and Miles Hamblin hit back-to-back-to-back singles to lead off with Hamblin's base knock scoring Leftridge from second.

Monk Kreder followed with a walk to load the bases. Nick Popescu hit into a fielder's choice with Western Nevada's third baseman Travis Feiner throwing Johns out at home for the first out of the inning.

With the bases still loaded, Caleb Nine singled to left, scoring Hamblin to make the score 2-0. A slow-roller to short off the bat of Will Calhoun allowed Kreder to score from third. Western Nevada's starting pitcher David Carroll finally got out of the inning when Andrew Collazo grounded out to second.

Leftridge put the Hawks back out in front in the top of the second, crushing a pitch from Carroll over the right field wall. The solo shot extended Howard's lead to 4-2.

Coming into tonight's game, Leftridge had just two hits in 13 at-bats. He finished the night 3-for-5 with two RBI and three runs scored.

"I just kept my composure and was seeing the ball a lot better tonight," said Leftridge. "I was going to be more aggressive at the plate tonight. That was my plan."

Howard added three more in the fourth, courtesy of two errors and three hits. Runey Davis, who is batting better than .500 at the World Series, led off the inning with a single and worked his way to third on an error by Wildcats shortstop Daniel Zylstra on a ball hit by Leftridge, who ended up on second on the play.

Johns beat out a throw from Western Nevada second baseman Michael Stiles, allowing Davis to score from third to make the score 5-2. Leftridge crossed the plate for a third time on a fielder's choice ball off Hamblin's bat.

Kreder knocked in Johns with a solid single to right center, giving Howard a 7-2 advantage.

Davis and Leftridge continued to be catalysts in the fifth. With Collazo on base after striking out, but reaching on a passed ball, Davis doubled to left field to push Collazo across for an 8-2 lead.

Leftridge followed with his third hit of the night, singling to score Davis.

Howard took a 10-2 lead, when Popescu, who walked to lead off the inning and stole second, crossed on a bloop single by Collazo.

Great hustle shown by Johns on the basepaths led to a nine-run lead for the Hawks in the top of the seventh, 11-2. Johns hit a blooper to left, but stretched it into a double. A hit-and-run was executed with Hamblin hitting a slow-roller to short. Johns was at third by the time Zylstra came up with it and never slowed down, scoring standing up.

Howard is now one win away from claiming a national championship and faces Santa Fe (Fla.) College at 8:30 p.m. today. The Hawks have the luxury of playing with no losses in the double-elimination bracket, meaning Santa Fe must beat them twice to claim the title.